The Eurobond Saga: This Rush to the Courts by Implicated Top Civil Servants is Absurd

It is surprising how top civil servants implicated by Cord leader Raila Odinga in the Eurobond saga are rushing to court to stop investigations against them.

Top Civil Servants

Raila named the following as the” people of interest” in the saga:
The chief of staff and head of public service Joseph Kinyua, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich; PS Kamau Thugge; Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) board chairman Mohammed Nyaoga; John Birech, the director of financial markets at the CBK; Moses Muthui, the manager of financial markets at the CBK; Controller of Budget Agnes Odhiambo; Bernard Muiruri Ndungu, the chief accountant at the National Treasury; Julius Kilinda of the Accounting Unit at the National Treasury; and former CBK governor Njuguna Ndung’u.

But before the day was out, they had all but a few issued threats to sue Raila and to use the courts to stop further action against them on the issue. This is absolutely absurd. And if the Courts continue to accept these kinds of cases, Kenyans will have a right to question the role of the courts in the theft of country’s wealth by a few greedy individuals.

Example of Abusive Threats

Mr. Nyaoga’s threat exemplifies the others: He said he had no involvement with the Eurobond, arguing that the allegations “constitute reckless impunity and is a serious affront on my character and I will be taking action so that I can vindicate my character.

“I am going to sue because I have built my profession for over 31 years, so how can somebody with a microphone wash it away in five minutes,” he said.
Precious Reputations

It may be true that he took office after the Eurobond issue as he says. It may be true that Raila made a mistake as Nyaoga claims. But that is why, if his name was so precious to him, Mr Nyaoga should never have accepted a public service job! If people pay you to handle their affairs, they have a right to demand to know how you are handling those affairs. And the right thing is to explain again and again – and again with facts – that you are innocent. Kenyans are not deaf, dumb and idiotic. They will know when you are, indeed, speaking the truth. In that case, they will soon stop listening to Raila.

And in the unlikely event that we, as Kenyans, are all deaf and dumb, the next option for Nyaoga and his colleagues is to leave public offices! That is the honest thing to do if you want to safeguard your reputation. No one – including the President – should earn from public funds if they are not willing to be questioned by the same public about how they are spending or handling what they are entrusted with.

We can only hope that the courts will refuse to be used to keep people who either through ignorance or arrogance, abuse their employers when the employers question their performance.